1. The MARKSMAN
K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. 3| ISSUE VI| JANUARY‘13
CROSS- SWITCH
hdsjdy Page 10
Word of
Mouth
Page 17
Page 21 Page 23

2. EDITOR’S DESK
Dear Readers,
Welcome back to yet another exciting issue of your monthly dose
of marketing, ‘The Marksman’! We would like to thank all our
readers for the overwhelming response we receive time and again!
We promise to keep you all entertained and well read for the whole
of 2013!
To begin with, reaching out to the consumers in spite of the
numerous barriers they put up is the most difficult challenge for a
brand. So how do they cross those barriers and market
themselves successfully? Find out in our Cover Story on ‘Cross
Switch’ marketing.
Ever wondered why you instantly tend to use a brand
recommended by your friend? It’s called the power of ‘Word-of-
Mouth’ marketing which is our Special Story for this issue.
Did you miss the most exciting marketing conference of the year?
Catch a glimpse on what happened in the 8th SIMSR Global
Marketing Conference in our rewind section!
Go ahead and read some super stories in our regular section
Tweets, a super review on ‘All Marketers Tell Stories’ by Seth
Godin in our Bookworm section and many more interesting
sections to look forward to!
Read articles written by our very own readers! We would like to
congratulate the winners of our article writing competition Deepa
Sastry and Ghanendra Singh.
We look forward to some suggestions from all our readers! Get in
touch with us on Facebook and Twitter @marksmansimsr.
So don’t wait! Flip this page NOW!
Happy Reading !!
Team – Marksman
The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR
01 JANUARY 2013

3. CONTENTS
TWEETS It’s all about AD-itude! Hall-MARK Campaigns Brand MARK ive
03 09 07 05
COVER STORY SPECIAL STORY
CROSS - SWITCH MARKETING WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
10 17
TETE-A-TETE
FEATURED ARTICLES
27
Tata Group after Ratan Tata …21
Brand Tendulkar : Will it sustain post his
REWIND retirement? …23
25
SquAreheaD BOOKWORM BUZZ
32 31 33
THE MARKSMAN
05 02
AUGUST 2012

4. TWEETS
Ready for its Corporate Fun Run
In year 2008 Puma started its initiative named ‘ Urban stampede’ which is
a running platform where various corporate teams compete against each
other. This is a relay format which awards the fastest running corporate
team which also acts as a team building exercise.
Rajiv Mehta, MD, says “it is the only national running property in India”. He
also adds that it is not a cut-throat competition but participants enjoy the
race. The registrations for this event have started and PUMA expects some
of the best companies on board.
03 JANUARY 2013

5. TWEETS
India appoints Ignitee Digital for its social media campaign
Photography equipment maker Fujifilm India has appointed Ignitee Digital
for its social media and digital communication.
Fujifilm hopes to get connected with the tech-savvy youth of India by
providing them with more opportunities to get connected with the brand.
Let’s see what value proposition will Fujifilm put forward to its customers
with its ideas and Ignitee’s approach.
Life OK dreams to rival against Star plus
Life OK recently completed a year in December 2012 and holds around
10 percent share in Hindi GEC market. Life Ok, which tried to have
shows which are not only entertaining but also relevant with a social
message, is intending to utilise outdoor marketing in year 2013’s
strategies.
Ajit Thakur, GM of Life OK said 'his biggest ambition is to rival Star
Plus‘.
THE MARKSMAN 04

6. Brand MARK ive
ThinkGeek is the eponymous
reminder of all the brave souls
who waged a war against thick,
big books and stood out victorious.
It is a name that shows the word
‘Geek’ in a completely new light.
Let us think back and remember
that the modern heroes are not the
personalities for whom we brim
with adulation as they stand facing
the setting sun, their muscular
silhouettes giving them the aura of The idea to come up with
Titans. The real heroes that we something like this was
admire today are the hatched by individuals who
were at the helm of the internet
‘chaps-next-door’ with killer revolution in the 90s. The
determination and gritty objective was to create a shop
perseverance; the kind selling those products which
which would make Superman would appeal to individuals
and Batman scurry whose imagination spawned
back in the JLA great ideas and who had the
Tower and start guts to put their ideas to test.
testing themselves In short, it was meant for all
for abnormalities. those people who have helped
We are talking create THIS oh-so-convenient
technology. (Which includes
about the likes of Mark this unscrupulously detailed
Zuckerberg, Bill Gates et program code that makes your
al. ThinkGeek is a brand screen look like it is showing
name that represents that text in English language!)
very innovative intellect.
05 JANUARY 2013

7. Brand MARK ive
ThinkGeek in an online shop
serving the needs of people who
are passionate about technology.
What do you buy there? Well, here
goes! Their shop includes
Chocolate Flavored envelopes
with Note Cards, The Legend of
Zelda Mints, Squirming Tentacle
USB, Electronic Guitar T-Shirt
(Which can actually be
strummed!), Assassin Creed’s
Tomahawk, Da Vinci Wood
Catapult … and the list goes on.
operating system in 1995
transformed into this unique
online shop 4 years later after
implementing a multitude of
ideas and brainstorming
sessions.
Today ThinkGeek remains a
niche organization which
employs 26 people and-
This amazing online store is a believe it or not- 2 dogs named
subsidiary of VA Research, a Cisco and Rangely. The
company found in 1993 by 2 makers of ThinkGeek assert
Stanford Graduates Larry Augustin that these 2 “employees” are a
and James Vera. The ThinkGeek backup plan to ward off
site however became public way solicitors and also provide
later in 1999. VA Research today emotional release during
is called Geeknet and is based in “puppy play sessions”.
Fairfax, Virginia. What started as
an experiment in an Open source
UNIX like
THE MARKSMAN 06

8. Hall-MARK Campaigns
&
A promotional campaign done by WALMART and MARS has come to highlight
because of its innovative style. This campaign put together a good cause with
promotional campaign and managed to connect with consumers effectively. The
interesting fact was that the target consumers influence the buyers only by
wagging their tails.
Yes, this campaign focused on dogs!
It served as an “edutainment” opportunity for pet owners and brought to light the
plight of stray dogs. The idea for the campaign was generated after an analysis
revealed that there were 90 million pet owners who shopped in Walmart but only
60% purchased pet food and 40% purchased pet supplies there. This presented
as a huge opportunity for both Walmart and Mars.
Mars Pet care is a Brussels based conglomerate which is most popular for its
dog food Pedigree. In fact Mars is the biggest pet care provider in the world with
presence in 50 countries and employing 33000 employees worldwide.
07 JANUARY 2013

9. Hall-MARK Campaigns
Walmart decided to come up with a campaign
that not only highlighted Mars’ pet care
business but also promoted both the brands
as ‘Caring’.
As a result, a shopper marketing campaign
called ‘Pets Love Walmart’ was initiated
whose core objective was to raise money to
create shelters for stray pets.
The campaign utilized print as well as digital
media to reach out to consumers.
In the first leg of the campaign, Walmart hosted a weekly event that educated
shoppers about proper health care. In addition, all Pedigree packages
comprised of a QR code that directly donated a bowl of food to a shelter. The
code allowed shoppers to find ways of donating food to different pet shelters.
This promotion enhanced Mars pet care sales by 25% and a survey also
revealed that Walmart was indeed adjudged as a ‘caring brand’ and created
a recall value when it came to pet care food.
THE MARKSMAN 08

10. It’s all about AD-itude
MEDIA: TVC
CLIENT: KURKURE
CREATIVE AGENCY: JWT
Kurkure, known to be the perfect Indian namkeen snack was launched in 1999,
and is today identified as a new age crunchy snack, with the very well known
and funny tag line “Tedha hai par mera hai”. Its brand ambassadors so far have
been Juhi Chawla as well as Kareena Kapoor who are full of beans and they, in
the true sense, embody the vibrant and electrifying essence of Kurkure. The
journey now continues with Kurkure launching a brand new TV Commercial
introducing the new age Kurkure family that is dynamic, alive and energetic
and would connect with the youth of today. Parineeti Chopra, Kunal Kapoor,
Farida Jalal, Boman Irani, Ramya Krishnan, and Shivansh have been
introduced individually in teaser ad commercials which are currently on air.
This all new family kurkure ad commercial is
considered to be its biggest ad campaign till
date. The advertisement hopes to break
new ground by targeting multiple age
segments simultaneously; cementing
Kurkure’s standing as the “universal snack”.
MEDIA: PRINT
CLIENT: FEVER 104 FM
CREATIVE AGENCY: BRANDS ON E
Fever 104 FM has come up with this vibrant and colourful print ad which sends
across a very useful message, “wherever you go, reach happy”. It has come up
with three print ads which aim to target the college going teen, the home maker
and the office going executive. The print ad is full of colours which makes it
extremely catchy. The message is that the 40 minutes of non-stop music help
you reach college, make breakfast or reach office taking the monotony away,
replacing it with a sense of refreshing vivacity and making the journey more
interesting.
09 JANUARY 2013

11. CROSS SWITCH
DECIPHERING THE CODE
“Cross-switch” is an approach- including strategies, tactics and tools to get
through the barriers put up by the consumers and maximize the results of a
C marketing campaign.
O FLIPPING THE SWITCH
V In this day and age, businesses are struggling to get consumers to pay
attention to their brands. It’s no longer enough to simply use multiple forms of
E media to deliver the same message or campaign over and over. It’s easy for
consumers to sift that out and likewise it fails to take advantage of the power
of some other forms of media especially digital media.
R
THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF CROSS COMMUNICATION
In this era of over flowing information consumers detach themselves from
information if they feel it has nothing to do with them. Then , they put up what
S we call an INFORMATION BARRIER.
And to ensure that the message reaches the consumers “The Drawing Out
T Approach” is used by presenting information that is intriguing, with which the
consumer wants to become involved, unlike the traditional breaking in
O approach
R
Y
The consumer who has put The “Drawing out”
up Information barrier approach
which forces consumers to pay attention to their marketing messages.
Cross switch approach is a way to provide added value and create
engagement with consumers and that’s a big part of where cross switch
communication fits into today’s and tomorrow’s environment. It gives
marketers powerful new ways to draw consumers out and make the more
involved.
THE MARKSMAN 10

12. WHAT MAKES IT WORK
The key to drawing consumers out
from within their barriers is to
create SCENARIOS that move the
target.
In this way the consumers take
interest and actively seek out for
information, and before they know
it they are fans of the brand
enjoying an active brand
experience leading to a purchase.
C
O
V
E
R
S
T
O
R
Y
PUTTING CROSS SWITCH INTO PLAY: Real Cases
Nissin Food Products Ltd:
CUP NOODLES ‘FREEDOM PROJECT’ PRODUCT PLACEMENT
In 2006, Nissin, which sells a staggering 25 billion packs of noodles a year,
had something special to do to celebrate Cup Noodles’ 35th Anniversary.
Hence, the Freedom Project where Nissin tried to position the humble Cup
as a symbol of freedom, since the pour-and-eat meal had "brought about a
worldwide revolution in food culture."
11 JANUARY 2013

13. Using campaigns which included a
series of commercials and longer films,
as well as posters and a range of
multimedia elements, all based on an
animated tale created by Katsuhiro
Otomo, the legendary manga artist and
anime director.
The project was able to fulfill its
objective of changing impression of
C young people about CUP
NOODLES.
O
Their image of actual ‘CUP
V NOODLES’ product became both
active and empathetic which was
E indicated by consumers comments
such as “feels lively”, “energetic” and
R “always new”.
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION:
“HARMONY FOR TOMORROW” CAMPAIGN
S CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Cross switch approach is not just a sales
T promotion method to build short-term sales. It
can also be used for brand communication
O when the theme at first glance may be difficult
to follow.
R This strategy was used by Toyota’s CSR
campaign to achieve greater proliferation of
Y their activities.
An integration of television commercials, the web magazine &
advertisements, train station advertisements was incorporated to form
paths along with distribution of digest versions of web magazines which
led to the company establishing its goodwill and empathy with broader
range of consumers.
Cross switch goes to America
The scion XD “Little Deviant” campaign
Cross communication tactics were deployed for “Little Deviant” campaign
where an array of innovative elements conveyed a sensational narrative to
underscore the xD’s non-conformist personality.
THE MARKSMAN 12

14. xD was the aggressive five-door urban vehicle, the newest model from
Scion. Through a series of outdoor spectaculars, print ads and TV spots
the xD was personified using little deviants monsters. The story brought
the audiences along for the ride on their website where they could
navigate old school style games.
C
O
V Manga Magazines
“Don’t Search !” – Jump Square Inaugural Issue campaign
E
For many years, sales of Manga magazines had been driven by the
R strength of their stories. This example of jump square however
demonstrates that even in the case of a magazine that always had
particularly strong content, sales volume could still be increased drastically
by creating an advertising device to attract readers’ attention and draw
S them out.
T Challenging Environment
In recent years the sales of Magazines have faded somewhat probably in
O part due to the growth of internet, mobile phones and electronic gaming.
This case is about a comic style magazine, which succeeded in gaining
R extremely high sales in this age where magazines don’t sell as they used
to. A totally innovative plan was sought for the advertising of Jump
Y Square’s Inaugural Issue.
The ‘Stay Away’ Message
About three weeks before the release of the
magazine, a rather dramatic and startling TVC
was broadcasted where the words “Jump Square”
appeared in an Internet Screen window, crossed
out by an “X”, with an accompanying voice-over
as follows: “This is a request. The inaugural issue
of Jump Square will be released shortly , but
please don’t search for “Jump Square” over the
internet.
13 JANUARY 2013

15. C It is human nature to want to do what you are told not to do. Right?
O The commercial caught interest of people and they began searching for the
words “Jump Square”.
V At first, all they saw was a text page with a “Request from the Editorial
Division”. Seeing this the reaction of non-core members was predictable,
E however the core readers , their reactions were opposite.
When they saw the message they became even more convinced that there
R is something wrong. They searched for the same words not once, twice but
three times in a row. Finally, those readers were led to a hidden site that
began with the message –
S “We give Up”. We are just no match to your determination and enthusiasm.
T Building the Buzz
O Core readers quickly posted comments on blogs and other sites describing
how they discovered the “hidden information”. In no time the discussions of
R the hidden site spread like wildfire by the WOM on internet!
Y Further WOM Tie-ins were created using mobiles phone sites and
advertisements in Tokyo train stations. It didn’t stop there. The hidden site
provided open access to mobile site, where the readers could view the
entire manga story before the publication date, which said “Read one story
from the Inaugural issue for free and pass it on to your friends ”Connecting
all the pieces of promotions with their very unique TRAIN CAMPAIGN
created a buzz which was irresistible.
The readers could participate in the Manga Relay, where they could read
every segment of the serial only by getting off the train at each station.
THE MARKSMAN 14

16. Results were evident with the comments-
“I read them all”
“I read it on Platform 4 at Shibuya Station”
Once the campaign was underway, the information about the new Jump
Square traveled by WOM from non core readers to prospective readers and
further to friends and acquaintances.
“Sold Out”
The inaugural issue of Jump Square was released in November 2007. The
original printing was set at 500,000 copies but the analogy was sold out and
C a second printing of 100,000 copies was released later.
O As a result of this campaign, we can say that it is safe to say that
consumers actively and independently access information about
V advertisements that catch their interest.
E Cross communication in this case was very innovatively deployed, The
consumers were drawn out from their information barriers by making
R special tips and “ insider information” available person-to-person from core
to manga fans, first by concealing the information and later rigging up its
demand which corroborated the belief that there's nothing better than
searching hidden information. Another idea was also confirmed that the
S “information gap” between core and non core readers would lead to ripples
and the information would pass from core to less interested readers.
T
O
R
Y
The CROSS in Cross Switching- Is what makes it different
On the basis of four elements, it is easy to solidify the contrast between the
traditional media mix and Cross switching namely; Contact Point planning,
breadth and depth , scenarios and Media insight.
The Crucial difference between the two approaches of Integrated Marketing
Communication and Cross Switching is that in cross switching the entire idea
or the message is essentially a jigsaw which has to be pieced from different
sources to complete the communication which the brand is trying to do.
15 JANUARY 2013

17. IMC purely aims at using different media to communicate the same
message in order to drive reinforcement of the key message in the minds of
the consumer.
Thus by using the same media , we can have a standard Push based
communication plan which is the IMC or we can have the Cross Switch
which will aim purely at creating a pull based impact .
It’s effective when level of involvement is high as compared to low
involvement , as then, the consumer would be straight away put to point of
C purchase.
O
V
E
R
S
T
O WHEN SHOULD IT BE PUT TO USE
R This approach works for brands with little news, for instance Brands that
have undergone minor renovations, Brands in categories where differentiation
Y is difficult.
When it’s difficult to attract consumers interest in the brand, it becomes
important to draw out a clear path that draws consumers out and this strategy
is apt to achieve that goal which uses Core Idea as a key to create a scenario
for effectively moving the target to action.
This core idea is a campaign’s Central Theme, designed to capture
consumer’s hearts, which expresses the allure, novelty and the power of the
campaign in simple terms.
THE MARKSMAN 16

18. S
P
E
C Her friend Anita from work came up
Why Brands love
to her one day and asked her,
I those “Big Mouths” “Why do you look so stressed
Lalitha. What’s the matter?” She
A Lalitha, a 27 year old recently got explained the anxiety she was
recruited in one of the biggest feeling because of moving away
L MNCs as the HR Head in the from home and her family and
financial capital of India, Mumbai. living in such a big city all by
S Born and brought up in Darjeeling, herself. Anita told her, “Hey, it’s
Lalitha was going through a bit of alright! This city can make anyone
T a culture shock when she came to feel lonely. I and a couple of friends
live in Mumbai. The extremely fast are going to spend our day off
O paced life of this city was tomorrow at the Sva Spa and
beginning to give Lalitha the Salon. It’s the best spa in this city
R Heebie - jeebies. Being an and a day spent there will get you
introvert and it being her first time all relaxed. You should join us.”
Y in a big city like Mumbai, Lalitha Lalitha instantly agreed since she
started feeling a little left out. needed some time off to pamper
herself. The day after the visit to
the Salon, Lalitha felt like a new
person. She thanked Anita for this
wonderful recommendation.
+ 5 Points for Sva Spa and Salon
17 JANUARY 2013

19. SPECIAL STORY
Months passed by and Lalitha was now getting in tune with the hustle and bustle
of this city. Over the months, she had become good friends with her neighbours,
all of them within the same age group. Preeti, one of her neighbours, once came
over to her house and told Lalitha, “I went to see the movie Life of Pi yesterday. It
was a brilliantly made film and you should definitely not miss this one. But don’t
go to Cinemax in Wadala. The sound and the 3D effects of the theatre spoiled
my movie experience completely.”
+ 5 Points for Life of Pi -5 Points for CineMax
Being relatively new to this city, every time Lalitha was confused about
something like a good restaurant to eat at or a good place to shop from or a good
coffee place to go to and spend time alone at, she would turn to her friends,
colleagues or neighbours for a recommendation since she knew they would tell
her the right place to be at and the places to avoid. +5’s for all those good
recommendations and -5’s to all the bad ones!
So why exactly are we rating these places and giving them these points? It’s
nothing but what the marketers proudly call ‘Word-of-Mouth marketing’.
The oldest and the most precious form their brand in any part of the country
of marketing for any company, Word- could hamper their brand and affect
of-Mouth (WOM) marketing has grown their sales.
to become an important part of the
marketing plan of a brand. Since its
inception in the form of Storytelling,
WOM marketing has become more
than just that. With the digital platform
becoming the ‘next big thing’,
consumers now have the power to
voice their opinions about the brands
that they use on various social
networking websites, over the
telephone, via emails and various
other ways.
Brands are becoming increasingly
aware of this Empowered Consumer
and have therefore become very
cautious in every marketing move they
make. One bad thing said about
THE MARKSMAN 18

20. SPECIAL STORY
So why is Word of Mouth marketing becoming so
important especially in a country like India?
Indians are known to live in a very closely knit society. All the people living in one
locality may belong to different cultures yet when it comes to choosing a product
or a particular brand they listen closely to what the others living around them
have to say about those brands. Trust plays a very important role while choosing
any particular brand.
A ‘Brand’ for an Indian consumer represents a trust mark and guarantee for value
for money. Hence if recommended by a close friend, peer, colleague (word of
mouth), the consumer is more likely to choose that brand over others. A recent
survey showed that more than 70% of the consumers in India tend to consider
recommendations from their friends and colleagues before buying any brand.
Brands recognise the importance of the use of Social Media as
a tool for Word-of-Mouth marketing
We have come into a great era where a
brand has moved from an intangible
thing to a tangible and measurable
entity as we enter into the digital age
and the smart phones age. Increase in
the use of the digital platforms and the
use of smart phones has literally given
the future of all the brands in the hands
of the consumer. Hence, every brand
recognises the importance of keeping
their consumers happy and satisfied.
Getting the feedback from their
consumers has become as important
as planning the right market strategy.
And this is where social media plays a
very important role. As rightly quoted
by the famous Author Andy Sernovitz,
‘A happy customer is the greatest
advertisement’
19 JANUARY 2013

21. SPECIAL STORY
Here’s how Word-of-mouth marketing
has evolved over the years
Word of mouth 1.0 Word of mouth 3.0
Word of mouth used to revolve More recently, brands have started to
around the idea that one put their business in the hands of the
satisfied customer goes and consumer. Affiliate selling has moved
tells friends and family about the from agencies pushing out links to
service that he has received. drive sales to consumers becoming
the curators of their own websites.
They recommend and share
Word of mouth 2.0 products on a variety of platforms,
Brands then capitalised on the whether that is through virtual stores,
potential of word of mouth apps or online store fronts, and earn
marketing by developing strategies rewards, points and cash.
to actively gain brand advocates
and set up affiliate models of
selling, rather than simply using
paid-for advertising. The rise of
online shopping, comparison and
review sites, social media, and
experiential marketing all helped
the spread of word of mouth.
So what is the future of
Word-of-Mouth marketing Also making use of the full potential
of Social media, a brand can become
in India? a consumer’s favourite in a matter of
a few months. Even though newer
and better ways of marketing have
As long as the Indian consumers been found a marketer should not
continue to trust the opinions of forget the effectiveness of something
their friends and family for making as basic as Word-of-Mouth
their purchase decisions, brands marketing. After all life is all about
will have to ensure that they keep going back to your roots and this
working hard towards gaining all form of marketing is nothing but the
those +5 points from every single roots or as we like to call it the
consumer that they come across. beginning of marketing.
THE MARKSMAN 20

22. FEATURED ARTICLES
If one was to relate these verses of Nishkam Karma Yoga from Bhagwad Gita to
contemporary corporate landscape, there would sure be a mention of Mr. Ratan
Tata, the doyen of Indian Business. Things were different when Ratan Tata was
handed down the baton of the Tata Group by JRD from what they are now when
he goes on to do the same to Cyrus Mistry. One thing that hasn’t changed – Tata
stepped into the shoes of a giant in 1991. His successor will do likewise.
When Ratan Tata took over the reins of group, he had the challenges of fire-
fighting the group’s satraps, coordinating and streamlining the diverse activities
of over hundred diverse holdings into a cohesive group in the turbulent times of
1991 economic liberalization and most importantly, reasserting the Tata
alchemy of values like trust and commitment. Though the succession was
fraught with various issues, his stellar performance as a leader and visionary
made the Group’s fortune grow over 20 times in his 20 years at the helm.
While the successor is the first in
the lineage to not have a Tata
surname, it’s all still in the family.
With the Jewel (Read: Ratan)
passing on the crown of the salt-to-
software conglomerate to his
successor Cyrus Mistry, the latter
sure has his task cut out for him.
Ratan Tata transformed the launching the world’s cheapest car,
respected, predominantly domestic Nano on the other. With the leadership
Tata Group into an internationally now changed, Mistry needs to
recognized House of Brands. The strategize on holding firm the $100
enterprising chairman picked up the billion business empire, the big getting
iconic Jaguar and Land Rover bigger on account of over $20 billion of
marques on one hand, while deals in 2000s by Ratan.
21 JANUARY 2013

23. FEATURED ARTICLES
The ill-timed purchase of Corus, capital
locked up in a mega power project facing
coal supply issues, the telecom arm mired in
telecom industry’s regulation and price wars
of competitors and the ambitious cheapest
car project yet to strike the chord for revenue
realization will keep Mistry busy in
strengthening the top line. While the Corus
and JLR deal led to a $14 billion debt
While the brand Tata is a burden, Corus is financially a separate entity
force to reckon with, there from Tata Steel and hence the impact could
is a need to read into the be arrested. However, there is a need to
numbers of the graphs discipline flirting with ambitious takeovers in
times of volatile economic environment. The
slowdown in the West can have an
undesirable impact on Tata's revenues. In
this background, Tata Group may be seen
having lesser radical moves in the coming
decade than it did in the previous stint of
chairmanship.
to hold up the core values of trust, integrity
and commitment to community service. In the
harsh world of international competition, the
Nevertheless, once the group may face increased pressures to
scene recovers in the long relook the community aspect since
term, there are various businesses are there to generate profits for
spheres where the new its charitable trusts (Tata Sons) to distribute,
Chairman could think of rather than to be charities themselves.
taking the Tata brand bigger The task the new leadership faces is every
like the Retail (Trent Ltd., bit as great as that faced by Ratan Tata
Croma, Tata Starbucks and when he first took office; he will have to
Star Bazaar) and the perform a delicate balancing act by building
Aviation (there was a on the values and reputation bequeathed,
previous unsuccessful while at the same time translating those
attempt of tie-up with values into a tangible economic form of
Singapore airlines) with FDI business competitiveness. One can sure
being opened up. hope for the Tatas to keep going strong as
Meanwhile, there is a need ever, even without a Tata at the helm.
THE MARKSMAN
25 22
January 2013

24. FEATURED ARTICLES
Brand Tendulkar:
Will it sustain post his retirement
- Ghanendra Singh, IIM Indore
Sachin Tendulkar the name which does attributes which have made this
not require any further introduction and brand one of the most trusted brand
that has gone beyond cricket to such a in the country and all over the world.
level that cricket has become religion in His unquestionable ability and
India and Sachin is the only god of that remarkable longevity has made him
religion. His iconic personality and the face of more than 25 brands in
splendid performances took cricket to a his 23 years career. He charges
whole new level and he was one of the between 9-10 crores for one
reasons for a huge follower base for endorsement, is currently earning
cricket in India. To be like him is the around Rs. 200 crores annually
aspiration of many players and dream through these endorsements and is
of many youngsters. holding around 17 endorsements
Every brand has its own core identity products
and in Brand Tendulkar determination,
perseverance, durability, confidence, So what will happen to Brand
maturity, excellence are the Tendulkar, after his retirement?
In short term, definitely there will be
some impact on the brand
Tendulkar as brand will pass
through the repositioning phase.
Earlier, brands which targeted
youth and used attributes like
energy and agility to attract the
target group will lose their interest
in brand Tendulkar and will go away
but brands which stand for
23 JANUARY 2013

25. FEATURED ARTICLES
durability, tradition, excellence and are endorsed brands and will get
required to be trusted by consumers converted into a niche brand. It will
will rope in Tendulkar as their develop the attributes of elegance,
endorser. To associate with Brand style, sophistication and great trust.
Tendulkar, Companies will focus more It will be the perfect choice for
on his personal attributes and interests companies which are perceived as
and his past performances will no premium and enjoy a high brand
longer attract the marketers. For value and strong brand equity in
example, Sachin’s fondness for trendy market. Although the number of
cars, stylish watches and apparels is endorsement per year will surely
well known and companies based on decrease but Tendulkar as a brand
these kind of products will try to cash will strengthen its place in the
in on the opportunity. market.
One more dimension which is also
interesting and will impact the Brand
Tendulkar in the long run is the
stance he will take, after retiring from
all formats of cricket. Will he remain
attached to cricket by way of other
roles like commentator, umpire or
coach or will we see him in the
parliament as our leader or will we
see him as a social worker or does
he have other plans. So Brand
In long term the brand will pass Tendulkar still depends on him and
through the transition phase from his future steps will decide his brand
young, energetic brand to credible, position in a better way.
reliable and classy brand. As his fans Definitely with time Brand Tendulkar
and followers will not be able to see will sustain and will maintain the
him regularly as he would not be aura around it. And with time it will
accessible to the public as he was be able to convert itself into a
earlier, the only way people can premium personality brand.
consume this brand will be through
interviews, guest appearances in
cricket matches and brand
endorsements. This will create a huge
opportunity for different brands to use
this iconic brand.
With time Tendulkar as a brand will
stand out from rest of the sportsman
THE MARKSMAN 24

26. REWIND
8TH SIMSR
Global Marketing Conference
The 8th SIMSR Global Marketing Conference was conducted by SIMSR, in
collaboration with its academic partners- College Of Business & Public
Administration California State University San Bernardino, USA; Xiamen University
China; The Management University of Africa.
It was a two day marketing fiesta held on the 4th and 5th of January 2013.This
marketing conclave played host to industry czars and academicians and research
scholars who shared their papers on diverse subjects. The theme this year was
“Marketing Metamorphosis Transforming Lives … Nurturing Lifestyles”, equating
marketing to the butterfly effect, where an insignificant action may actually
snowball into great extraordinary results.
A dance video from Korea reached millions of viewers and turn into an
incomprehensible hit, social networking media emerged from just being networking
sites. All these changes were what we need to adapt to with an evolving change in
the dynamic marketing arena.
DAY I – Day one began with the Keynote Speaker Shri Sameer Satpathy, Vice
President, Marketing, Marico India and Shri Tarun Chauhan, Managing Partner,
JWT, Mumbai, who shared inaugurated the events and their worldly insights. Soon
we moved onto our tracks which consisted of various themes like Social Media, E-
Commerce, Retail Management, Consumer Behavior, Integrated Marketing
Communications and many more. The researcher presenters ranged from
professors, to students to academicians.
25 JANUARY 2013

27. REWIND
DAY II - The second day was abuzz with a few more tracks to go and the much
awaited panel discussion.
The panel discussion was graced by revered panelist from across diverse fields
like
 Mr Sanjay Arun Kawale - Marketing Group,
 Senior Expert, Director of ZTE India Wire line
 Mrs. Feng Yuan - ICBC Bank, Mumbai Branch
 Mr Shui Bo - China Shipping India Pvt Ltd
 Dr Satyendra Upadhyay - Consultant ( India China Trade Relations ) &
Professor of Chinese Language
 Mr Sanjiv Sarin : Regional President of South Asia, Tata Global Beverages
Limited, Bengaluru, India
 Mr Sudhakar Desai : Vice President – Risk Management & Director Bunge
International.
The main theme for the Panel Discussion was Doing Business in Asia, where our
respected guests shared their opinions on the future of marketing the contrast
and as well the similarities between the Asian markets.
It highlighted various changes that marketing will witness and how we need to
adapt ourselves to it.
These two days were packed with learning’s and wisdom shared by all a part of
this event. There was never a dull moment with panel discussions, presentations,
lectures and think tanks help our gain meaningful vision.
THE MARKSMAN 26

28. TETE-A-TETE
Corporate Interaction With
Mr. Ajay Rawal
National Marketing Head,
JK Ansell , a Raymonds Group Venture
Mr. Ajay Rawal has a unique combination of
Rx, OTC and FMCG experience helpful in
fostering implementation of customer-centric
and growth-driven brand development
initiatives to fortify business He is recognized
for boosting sales and bottom-lines. He has
been awarded several times for creative
thinking and superior results. He has launched
well known brands with FMCG orientation. His
prior experience includes working with
companies like Paras Pharma, Novartis, IPCA
Laboratories, Lupin Laboratories etc.
He is currently the national marketing head with J K Ansell, a
Raymonds Group Venture. He recently visited K.J.Somaiya Institute of
Management Studies and Research and gave us his useful insights
into the world of Marketing. Here are a few excerpts from his interview:
How has your professional journey been so far?
That is a very interesting question to answer from where I am today. I started
my career in sales in 90s. It was by sheer serendipity that I landed into a sales
assignment at Lupin Laboratories
27 JANUARY 2013

29. TETE-A-TETE
It was then, when I happened to see the brand managers coming in for
meetings, that I realized that I could do something more than mere sales
and I inquired my chances of enteringinto a marketing assignment as it
looked very glamorous to me then; which it isn’t now.
Today I would say that it is extremely essential for each one of us to
realize what one is passionate about, it is important to understand your
SWOT analysis before venturing into a new arena. Perhaps this one thing
is not really taught in the institutes. Following my passion, I pursued my
MBA and then my 1st assignment was with IPCA Laboratories in
prescription marketing. Marketing after sales helped me appreciate better,
while making strategies how would you actually implement it in the market
through the sales force. You need to have a proper understanding about
how all the partners in the channel work.
I then delved into consumer marketing (OTC). Then a major tenure of my
career was at Novartis wherein I had an opportunity to launch Calcium
Sandoz woman right from the scratch, right from the idea of the brand to
the packaging. After which I launched Calcium Sandoz soft chew, wherein
the challenge was to enable kids to consume the tablets. For all practical
purposes there are two factors which work, how do you enhance the
penetration and the number of people who consume your brand multiplied
by consumption.
I then had an interesting stint with PARAS pharmaceuticals which has
brands like moov, itchguard, setwet, livon, krack etc. And in just three
years and a half we really enhanced the business value by almost 200%
returns in 30 months wherein moov was one of the brands to touch a value
of 100 crores in 2 years from a value of 68 crores which I had taken up as
a personal objective. According to me, this would be an interesting case
study. I then moved to Mumbai with J K Ansellwhich is into the medical as
well as consumer business, the entity being a 50-50 JV between
Raymonds and Ansell of Australia, a leader in barrier protection globally.
The major brand that we have is Kamasutra Condom and KS Deodorants.
What is surprising to note is that our business of deodorants is actually
larger than the condom business, the way the line has grown. We have
grown our products with a belief “experiencing is believing”. Apart from
this, I teach courses like Brand Management, OTC, CRM in various B-
schools. Well, that is about my journey.
THE MARKSMAN 28

30. TETE-A-TETE
What are the factors that you look into before diversifying into a totally new
arena?
The 1st and most important research perspective is whether the category
would be received well by the consumers or not. However the other
perspective is that research is always under test conditions. So, many a
times research might not be the perfect solution. For instance, when the
concept of ATM machine was checked with consumers, it was an outright
failure! So, research is not the only solution, customer understanding is
paramount.
I would say that there are five basic pillars herein. The 1st being product
formulation, you should be able to give the consumer what they really desire.
2nd would be understanding the consumer psychology, whether the brand of
the product would be received well by them. 3rd and the most critical pillar
would be distribution ability. For instance, India has 85 lac FMCG outlets out
of which there are 42 lac grocers, 19 lac pan plus outlets and 5 lac chemists.
So, the challenge is how far can you effectively reach and distribute.
The 4th pillar is the sales force as there is a cost for everything. And last but
not the least is the level of advertisement as everything starts with
awareness. Keeping the mentioned points in mind and given the differences
between Raymonds and K S Energy Drinks, what unites us are our core
values. We believe that anything that encompasses our core values can be
launched. Keeping this in mind we have recently launched K S Energy Drinks
currently available in four cities i.e. Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and
Bangalore.
I would say that it is not a competition to Red Bull and the others but is
instead creating a niche segment. We have got a good understanding and
have developed a very good product. According to me it is the best
packaging available as far as any energy drink is concerned globally.
According to you, is sales a pre requisite to marketing?
In marketing you have to devise a strategy and then implement the strategy. An
interesting analogy that I would like to quote is that you read a book and jump
into the swimming pool.
29 JANUARY 2013

31. TETE-A-TETE
Or, you go through a process of learning how to float, moving your legs and
learning over a couple of days. So, getting into marketing right away is the 1st
one and getting into marketing after sales is the 2nd one. The reason is simple.
You 1st need to understand how the sales force works, what is the type of
market, what are the retailer’s norms and demands and what is the manner in
which the distributor works. Without this basic information the chances of
success are bleak.
How much of the marketing concepts that we are taught in the class room
actually used in the industry?
They are definitely used however it depends on the endeavour of the people
in the industry to use those concepts. For instance the BDI / CDI analysis,
PLC, BCG Matrix etc. enable you to appreciate various marketing
parameters. So, there is definitely some relevance. However what is
unfortunate is that a lot of people do not really devote their time and effort as
they take these concepts for granted. Though the executive judgement
method would still be the sole determinant but the concepts always play a
vital role in any organization.
What is the message that you would like to convey to the marketing
aspirants in college?
There are two basic factors I would like to stress on. 1st and foremost being
what is it that you really want to do. What is the nature of work that you
would be very keen to do? As glamorous as marketing seems to be, actually
it might not be so. Secondly, marketing is actually a left brain and right brain
opportunity. Hence you need to be both, analytical as well as creative. It is
important that you do a SWOT analysis of yourself that would help you
appreciate your strengths and weaknesses.
THE MARKSMAN 30

32. BOOKWORM
TWEETS
All Marketers Tell Stories
By Seth Godin
This book which comes from the marketing guru and entrepreneur, Seth
Godin,was a 2005 release, in which he says how all marketers lie and the more
believable ones are those who actually sell their product. The author has been
a regular blogger and has popular insights about marketing.
The idea for this book came to him during the 2004 US presidential elections.
He states that both the sides spun lies, however, the more believable ones
won. His holistic view on marketing is that if you want to promote your product
or service in this environment where television marketing radio marketing if
there are not working since it’s a amass media marketing tools. Seth talks
about the idea that in order to differentiate your product, you need to weave a
great story to sell your product.
Here you don’t need to focus on the product features and benefits. Some of the
examples that he uses are 80,000 Porsche, it’s the same exact car as a 30000
Volkswagen , but the reason people buy it is because of the story frame
surrounding it. Great stories and not ideas, features and benefits are what
spread from person to person, people like to tell stories and not product and
features.
The next idea is of a world view. When you think of mass marketing they are
not focusing on individual world view, and that’s why today in this environment
when we have so many choices, we need to focus on individuals. Then
ironically he talks about authenticity, where he says that if you are going to tell
a great story marketers need to stick to it, thereby moving from a fib to fraud.
This book will help you and will impart a lot of information. This 210 pages book
is a quick read to impact a business and will help in this eclectic marketing
environment. It has a persuasive story with vivid examples .This is for a
marketer looking to differentiate his story and understand his customers better.
31 JANUARY 2013

33. SquAreheaD
THE MARKSMAN 32

34. BUZZ
THE CROSSWORD ACROSS
1. What is the name of the travel
guide, anyone can edit, started by
Wikipedia ?
3. Which brand has become the
world’s largest selling PC brand by
beating HP ?
4. Name this legendary music retail
brand which was opened on London’s
Oxford Street by Edward Elgar in
1921. It is about to be closed down.
7. Dialogues from which Tarantino
movie have inspired the words of the
Idea jingle “u r my pumpkin,
pumpkin, hunny bunny” ?
THE CLUES
DOWN
1. Name the oldest Swiss bank shut
down recently.
2. Which is the worlds largest PR
firm, headquartered in London ?
5. Which Indian company has been
nominated for the notorious Public
Eye Awards for worst company
worldwide for protection of human
rights and environment ?
6. India’s first sugar plant was set up
in 1842 in Nellikuppam, Tamil Nadu.
Which company owns this plant now
?
8. From which company has Soft and
Gentle brand been acquired by
8. Colgate 6. EIDParry 7.PulpFiction Godrej in UK ?
5. CoalIndia 3. Lenovo 4. HMV
2. Edelman 1A. Wikivoyage 1D. Wegelin
33 JANUARY 2013

35. CALL FOR ARTICLES
February 2013
Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:
1. RIM rebrands to BlackBerry with launch of BlackBerry
10 : How does the future look?
2. The Graph search - Facebook's intelligent step
3. Is creativity losing its edge on the data driven
marketing today?
*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all
references are clearly mentioned
1. One article can have only one author.
2. Your article should be from 500-600 words and
MUST be replete with relevant pictures that
can be used to enhance your article.
3. Send in your articles in .doc/.docxformat with
font size 11 (Arial) to:
interface.newsletter@gmail.com
4. Subject Line: Your
Name_InstituteName_CourseYear.
5. Kindly name your file as: Your Name_Topic
The best adjudged article will be given a winner's
certificate. Deadline for submission of the articles: 11:59
PM , 20 January 2013.
THE MARKSMAN 34

36. To subscribe to "The Marksman", Follow the link:-http://interfacesimsr.com/the-
marksman.html
OR drop in a mail/contact us at : interface.newsletter@gmail.com
Subject line: Subscribe: Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year
THE TEAM
COVER STORY SPECIAL STORY It’s all about AD-itude
Richa Garg Meeta Khatri Priyam Prasad
SquAreheaD Brand MARK ive BOOKWORM
Tavishi Agrawal Vivek Misra Smriti Sudish
TWEETS BUZZ PROMOTIONS
Mandar Dongre Nishant Singla Nishant Singla
Mandar Dongre
Hall-MARK PROOF READ DESIGNING
Campaigns Roma Sehgal Richa Garg
Vivek Misra Divya Damera
REWIND Nishant Singla
Smriti Sudish
TETE-a-TETE
Priyam Prasad
Follow us at: Website:
http://www.facebook.com/simsr.interface http://interfacesimsr.com/the-
https://twitter.com/Marksmansimsr marksman.html
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35 JANUARY 2013